Tether Acknowledged by U.S. Authorities for Freezing $1.6M Connected to Terrorism Financing

24 July 2025 – Tether, the largest company in the digital assets industry, announced today that it has assisted U.S. authorities in freezing and reissuing approximately $1.6 million in USDT connected to wallets linked to Buy Cash Money and Money Transfer Company (BuyCash), a Gaza-based financial network tied to terrorist financing operations.

The action is part of a broader civil forfeiture case announced by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), which includes approximately $2 million in digital assets used to support designated terrorist organizations. The wallets were identified in the secondary market through coordination with law enforcement investigators. Once alerted, Tether worked swiftly to freeze the associated funds and reissue the USDT to assist in the lawful recovery process.

Over the past year, Tether has actively worked with global law enforcement in assisting in multiple seizures of illicit funds across various jurisdictions. Earlier this month, Brazilian authorities recognized Tether’s support in blocking R$32 million (approx. $6.2 million USD) in a major cross-border money laundering scheme involving a criminal organization operating through the popular crypto platform Klever Wallet. In June, Tether was acknowledged by the DOJ for its assistance in a major enforcement action involving the seizure of approximately $225 million in USDT. In March this year, Tether assisted the U.S. Secret Service in freezing $23 million in illicit funds tied to transactions on the Russian-sanctioned exchange Garantex and helped freeze $9 million connected to the Bybit hack. As of today, Tether has blocked over 5,000 wallets, assisting law enforcement, with over 2,800 in coordination with U.S. agencies.

Tether has frozen over $2.9 billion in USDT tied to illicit activity to date, and assisted more than 275 law enforcement agencies across 59 jurisdictions. The company maintains a responsive wallet-freezing policy in accordance with the OFAC Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List and national regulatory bodies, working to ensure illicit activity tied to sanctioned individuals or criminal networks is swiftly contained.

“Tether’s strength lies in the transparency of blockchain technology and our ability to act decisively when abuse is detected. Unlike traditional financial systems, where illicit flows often go unseen, USDT is traceable, transparent, and accountable,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether. “We remain fully committed to continue working with law enforcement around the world to disrupt financial crime, as demonstrated by our ongoing support of investigations in the U.S. and beyond, and to protect the integrity of the digital asset ecosystem.”

This latest action demonstrates Tether’s prowess in real-time response to threats and highlights the benefits of operating on public, transparent blockchains where illicit funds can be traced, frozen, and recovered. For more information on Tether’s proactive efforts and actions, visit TetherFacts.com.

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